Stallone's Street To Stay Open

Neighbors Block Plan To Build Gate

MIAMI - — In his movies, actor Sylvester Stallone flexes his muscles, shoots big guns and gets what he wants.

But when the star of Rocky and Rambo tried to close off the exclusive street where he and superstar Madonna live, neighbors balked and won.

"We were never told of the planned closing," said Dean Ziff, vice president of the Cliff Hammocks Homeowners Association, which represents 22 nearby homes on Biscayne Bay. "We never signed a letter saying we approved the closing."

Ziff and his neighbors stopped the construction of a fence at the end of the street just weeks before it was to be built. The gate would have blocked a path frequented by bikers, joggers and in-line skaters leading from the Rickenbacker Causeway to the street near the Vizcaya museum.

The neighbors say Stallone's representative, Rosario Kennedy, a former Miami city commissioner, told commissioners a fib to get them to approve the structure.

Kennedy appeared before the commission in February, armed with a letter, saying all homeowners wanted the end of their street closed. Kennedy said it was a misunderstanding. "I had told some people to negotiate with the homeowners association," she said. "I thought they had done it, but they hadn't."

She explained Stallone wanted the gate for safety. Just last year, one of Stallone's security guards stabbed another guard who was trying to rob the place.

Fans drive up and down for a glimpse of the Stallone and Madonna mansions, which are gated. That will stop in June, when a guard gate is scheduled to go up on the entrance to South Bayshore Drive.

Stallone wanted to reduce the flow of bikers and skaters by closing off the north side of the street, too.

Ziff and Kennedy said there were no ill feelings between the star and the homeowners. When Stallone returns from the Cannes Film Festival in France, he will likely meet with neighborhood leaders, Kennedy said.